


Real Treasure

by Sephypsycologist



Series: Growing Bitties [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bittybones (Undertale), BITTIES, Hard Vore Mention, Multi, Soft Vore, Vore, death mention, human eating mention, safe vore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 19:22:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16980330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephypsycologist/pseuds/Sephypsycologist
Summary: You adopt two mer-bitties and life is...complicated.





	1. Adpotion

When you entered the store, you were only intending to get one bitty. You had a tank at home, but you hadn’t had the best record with actual fish. But you had lived for five years with your mother’s Baby Blue, Cuttles, so you thought you were up to caring for an Edgy fish. Fish would be easier because they stayed near their tank and didn’t need a TON of room or anything. Your small home and tank would be fine.

So you waved to the store clerk (a nice pink bird monster) and headed toward the glow of the fish tanks in the back. Turns out, it’s actually one very large tank with many colorful bitties swimming around inside or hiding in various cubbies.

You’d read that your soul knew who needed you most. As much as you could, you tuned yourself in to the sensation as you looked around the tank. Many of the bitties waved or looked up at you curiously but….you noticed you really searched in the back corner where a bunch of seagrass was clumped together. Laying sulkily with his arms over his chest, a Hammer blew frustrated bubbles at you, glaring. Something in your chest squeezed. Him. The other bitties saw your gaze, and a Garibaldi chuckled, “you want me to go get him for ya?”

“Could you?” You were shy enough, but these friendly little skeletons were putting you at ease.

“sure thing,” he swam down and held some kind of conversation with the Hammer. It was clear the red bitty didn’t want to come up, but his orange friend pulled him along anyway. “here you go.”

“yeah thanks a lot, pal,” growled the Hammer. “so what do you want, human?”

You blushed, unable to do much more than stammer. How do you explain that you want him to live with you? “w-well, um, I j-just….you…um….felt….right?”

“oh stars, not this again.” he gripped the side of the tank and growled, “i ain’t goin’ anywhere without my bro, and a stupid human ain’t cut out for us either. so scram!”

The other bitties murmured to themselves, and you felt disheartened. Was that not your soul reacting to him? Maybe you were wrong. A small splat to your left made you look over. A Goopster bitty was now on the shelf beside the tank. He used his hands to sign out words, which for some reason showed up above his head like neon lights, “My dear, why not meet his brother? It would give you some idea if you’re right or wrong in your hypothesis.”

“geeze, jello, you just gotta interfere, eh?” the Hammer huffed, but he grumbled, “lemme get ‘im” he turned and dove down a bit, then yelled loud enough that even you could hear him, “yo bonehead! get up!”

Out from the weeds his brother had been laying in front of, a Fisher bitty sleepily swam out, rubbing his empty socket while the other contained his half lidded eye light, “what do you want, bro?” he said, or you thought that was it, since the water was muffling things pretty well. You couldn’t catch the next part, but some of that was because you were surprised and unnerved. A Fisher? You’d assumed when he said brother, he’d be talking about a Papyrus type. This was another Sans type, and an even more hostile and violent one at that. But the moment your eyes met, your soul squeezed again. It was right. You’d been right.

Jello, the Goopster on the shelf, squeaked adorably and signed, “Good luck, child,” to you before disappearing somewhere. You quickly turn your attention back to the bitties, who have now both surfaced and are leering at you with all their sharp fangs.

“so, doll, this is my bro. you still think this ‘feels right’, eh?” the Hammer chuckled darkly.

The Fisher was fully awake now and giving you the smile of a serial killer, “you know, my kind have a tendency to eat our owners if they don’t treat us right.”

That shook you, but you swallowed your fear and nodded, “It does. Both of you feel right.”

They jolted, red magic beading on their skulls. Before they could speak though, the bird woman called you over. “Oh, um, just a minute, boys. I’ll be back,” you assure them, then rush over to the counter.

Knowing in your soul that those two need YOU just as much as you need them fills you with DETERMINATION.

You hurry to the desk and ask, “Did you need me?”

“Yes,” the bird woman smiled softly, “Jello just told me you’re resonating with two of our rehomed bitties.”

“Rehomed?” you asked, surprised. Your matches had been someone else’s before?

“Yeah, um…” she sighed, “I’m the owner, Auntie Dumpling. We run a one month welfare check on our bitties once they’re adopted. That’s when we found those two had been adopted to be put into a fighting ring. Their…eh, former owner,” you saw the disgust in her face as she remembered, “named them Killer and Jaws. Disgusting man, really, but we saved them and a dozen other bitties after the police got done arresting him.”

You felt your heart sink. They’d been forced to fight? That was awful!

“Look,” Dumpling let her wings flop, a blue tendril on her back pointing to a sign beside her about ‘Safety with Aggressive Bitties’, “They’re going to be really hard to love for a long time. They were already pretty fond of at least play biting even me, but now they bite humans to hurt on purpose. That’s why no one had taken them yet even a year later. And they won’t separate. It’d be one thing to deal with a Hammer who needs extra patience but…” She looks toward the tanks and you can tell her heart is aching for them, “Fishers are already paranoid from their general make up. This one will probably never trust again if he doesn’t find someone who can put up with anything he throws at them…literally.”

Poor thing. You look back, too, seeing them both still eyeing you from the tank’s surface. Dumpling finishes in a soft voice, “I know you feel like they’re your guys but…I just don’t want them to be hurt again. They deserve a forever home where they’ll be able to heal. Can you give them that, knowing they’ll try to hurt you before they trust you?”

That’s a hard question, but you think about it. Knowing why they do it is good, and it definitely will help you not take it so personally. Their history was a painful one, and you could relate, even if just on a superficial level. But you knew, deep down, you could help them. You could love them through the pain. And something told you it’d all be worth it in the end. “Yes. I can.”

Jello had appeared on the bird woman’s shoulder, and he smiled and nodded approvingly, making high pitched static sounds that reminded you of laughter. Dumpling smiled, “Okay then, sweetie. Go ask if they’ll come with you. If they say no, there’s nothing I can do, but if they agree, I’ll get your papers and a starter kit for both of them.”

You nod and hurry back, beaming at them both, “Guys, I’d love to have you both come home with me. You up for it?” You were excited now, elated that something inside you was confident in your decision.

They looked at each other, then dove, having a silent conference. After a minute, both came up and the Hammer nodded, “sure, doll. just don’t say we didn’t warn ya.”

“and don’t go crying to auntie when you’re missing a finger,” added the Fisher.

You sobered a bit, then asked, “Are you two okay with the names you were given before or do you want new ones? I’d rather know which you’d prefer.”

This surprised them, but the boys seemed in agreement, the Fisher nodding, “anything to get rid of the old ones.”

“Great. Be thinking so I can put them on your papers for you,” you reply, grabbing a bigger ‘carry tank’ and filling it at the sink provided. Merbitties could swim in any liquid and be fine, though water (fresh or salt by individual preference) was the recommended choice. You barely had it filled before both of them jumped in.

The Hammer cooed as he leaned on the edge, “we’ll save the love bites for later, toots.”

You were nervous about that nasty grin he gave you, but still took the solid rope handles on the tank and carried them to the front. 

It took you a long while to fill out the papers, and all the while one of the owner’s bitties (an Edgy by the look of him) was talking with your new family members. Dumpling had you leave them on the counter with her while you wrote, and you didn’t mind letting her say goodbye to them.

When it got to the “name of bitty” box, you called over, “Guys, you think of new names yet?”

Dumpling made a squawk of surprise, but seemed pleased by your question, asking them for you. After a moment, she answered, “They like James and Ridley.”

You heard the Hammer call, “i’m james” and quickly wrote it down. James and Ridley, huh? Nice. “it’s short for jessie james. cause i’m gonna break every law you got, lady!”

You laugh, shaking your head as you finish out the papers. Despite the anxiety over their antics, knowing you’ll have someone to come home to fills you with DETERMINATION


	2. Home life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Ridley come home. What did you sign up for?

You quickly put the boys into their tank as Dumpling had advised, then started reading the informational pamphlet that had come in each of their starter kits. You wanted to know as much as you could about your two new friends.

At least, that’s what you wanted to do but you were suddenly beaned and cut up by a ceramic vase that had been sitting near the tank. As you recover from the shock and pain, you hear something else flying toward you and cover your head. A hard object slams into your arm (but your head is fine!) and then another, and another in different places and speeds but all aimed at sensitive, vital places.

Scrambling behind the chair you’d been sitting on, you hide while objects bounce off the chair or sail over it. You see red magic flashing from the area around the tank now that you’ve opened your eyes (thank goodness none of the vase shards got in them). Your bitties are bombarding you already.

“James? Ridley? What’s up? Do you not like your tank?”

“tanks fine, toots. we just don’t like you!” came James’ reply.

“i can smell your blood from here, lampchop~” Ridley added with a chuckle.

“Okay.” You reply. You think about the things you can see scattered around behind the chair now. Books, mostly, and a few wooden knicknacks you kept on the shelf above and around the tank.

You don’t see any more objects flying your way, so you peek around the chair.

Both boys are at the top of the tank and glaring at you, but there is nothing left within a two food radius, or thereabouts. You make a note not to put anything in that range that can hurt you anymore.

“ooh, we gotcha good, doll,” James coos as Ridley licks his teeth and stares at you.

“Yeah, you did.” You pick up your pamphlets and head to the bathroom. “I’m going to clean up and come back once I’ve got some bandaids for these. Then I’ll clean the room.”

You don’t see the look of confusion from both of them at your lack of reaction.

—-

A few bandaids and some vacuuming later, your room is clean again and there’s no sign anything went wrong.

You finish reading your literature on your bitties, feeling more confident and prepared now that you survived the initial onslaught. “Okay guys. I think we should eat now. I’ll get yours first then mine.”

Standing, you head over to the kitchen, still within view of your tank. The boys are watching you sullenly from under the surface, though James has obscured himself in purple fake plant you have inside. Still you smile at them, shaking the water off yoru hands and begin cubing up the beef you’d bought in anticipation of getting James. It was good luck this would also be good food for Ridley.

Speaking of, Ridley is eagerly waiting at the top of the tank when you return with the food, which you made sure to prepare in full view of them. He leaps up as you lift your hand over the tank to drop the cubes in, latching on with every little needle in his mouth to the lowest section of your pointer finger. You drop the meat and the plate it was on into the water as you yelp, and Ridley lets go to fall in with it. “thanks for the taste, kiddo. human’s as lovely a flavor as ever,” he almost purrs, licking your blood from his chin while smirking.

“W-welcome, Rid,” you murmur, eyes leaking as you hold tight to the wrist of your injured hand. The bite is deep and stinging, every tiny puncture burning. This is going to hurt for a while. You sigh as you go back to the bathroom to disinfect and dress this new wound.

—

Your hand looks like a mummy’s. Your fingers and the edges of your palm are covered in bandages, and even your boss is concerned. You waved off any questions with explainations that you had just got a cat that was rather bite prone, but improving.

In truth, though Ridley had bitten first, it was James who had caused most of the injuries to your hand. He and Ridley laughed when you squeaked or yelped in pain, and they also tossed anything they could at you when you went by. Their tank was now empty of anything besides James’ purple plant and the castle hide at the center, which was where Ridley had chosen to sleep.

They threw every pebble inside at you, and the plate you’d dropped, and the keys you carelessly left by the tank. And the stuffed animals. You’d decided to just put soft things around the tank now for your own safety, and even though they still were thrown your way, it didn’t hurt.

Rubber gloves kept the boys from biting, too, so you now wore them every time you fed them. You also called the shop to tell Dumpling what was going on. She was impressed that you’d managed to handle things so far, and advised some more methods to try and get them to calm down.

Now that they have no recourse to physically hurt you, they’re trying emotional torment. James prefers attacking your appearance while Ridley likes mentioning how nice your blood had tasted and other very dark and thinly veiled threats. You try not to let it bother you, and have even offered to pet them if they’d like. they haven’t let you yet, but you’re hopeful.

Slowly, you notice the speed and force behind their throws decreasing, and the times you’re bitten aren’t as frequent, even once you remove your gloves. It’s nice to be able to trust them, and you praise them for small accomplishments (a whole day without biting! a day without throwing things!).

You go to bed in the soft blue glow of their tank, as usual, the night before the month inspection by Dumpling. As you turn over and try to doze off, you hear small scraping sounds and sniffling over the burbles from the water filter.

This makes you sit up and look. Facing away from you, the boys are talking softly while Ridley pats James on the back. “rid, i can’t. i don’t wanna leave,” James is whispering, “i know we said we would. i know, but…but she hasn’t done anything! not a thing we did made her mad or got us hurt. i’m scared ta go back ta havin’ ta fight off the others and not havin’ names and shit.”

“we can keep our names, bro,” Ridley replied, sounding sad, too, “but i get what you’re saying. that anticipation of a fight is awful.”

James sobs, gritting his teeth with a soft squeak, “rid, if we….if we go back, i don’t know if i can take it. we ain’t gettin’ another chance to be homed together. shit, we might not survive the next try. i just wish i knew why she ain’t hurtin’ us yet.”

“It’s because I’m not going to.” You get up and come over, both of them flinching away.

“don’t play with us,” Ridley glared, a few tears dripping in his eyes, “we’ve put you through hell. tomorrow you’re gonna send us back with auntie. you’re just like every human who ever came through. you just want something to control.”

“That’s what you think?” you felt your heart cracking, “Ridley…”

“it’s just facts,” James coughed, wiping at his eyes, “we’re born ta be violent, and dangerous, and its just a matter’a time before you hate us if ya don’t already.”

“No!” You came over, right in their range, not caring for your safety right now. Your boys were upset and finally, FINALLY, opening up. “James, Ridley, I told you when I brought you home, you both felt right to me. That hasn’t changed.”

They looked so confused and small, none of the bravado and cruel glee you’d seen up to now. They were finally being the bitties they were born as instead of the fighters and survivors that former owner had forced them to be.

You scooped them up gently, not even flinching when James yelped and bit into your hand. He was so weak from crying he didn’t even break your skin. “Boys, I love you. I love you and I’ve already forgiven you for what you’ve done. I want you to be happy and healthy, that’s all. I’ll put as many bandages on and take as many bruises as necessary for you two to feel like it’s safe here. This is your home.”

Ridley hissed, but clung to your thumb, shaking, “you’re lying. humans don’t care about bitties. how can you? you don’t know….”

“just dust us, or stop this fake kindness. i can’t….” James had let go of your hand, “i can’t stand it anymore.”

You sighed, but brought your hands close to your face. Both of them flinched and closed their sockets, but you kissed their cheeks softly and whispered, “I love you both. No fooling. My soul wants to be near your souls. Just relax.”

A few more gentle kisses and they were both cuddling into your face almost hungrily, like they hadn’t been held in their life. Maybe they hadn’t, not by someone who wanted them forever at least. You felt them trying to kiss you back, nuzzling their jaws ever so softly into your cheeks and lips. 

You were so relieved they were finally accepting your love. To feel their love in return? It filled you with DETERMINATION.


	3. Chapter 3

You greet Dumpling and the skeleton monster behind her with excitement.

She chirps happily, then introduces her companion, “Hello! This is Dr. Tahoma, who runs the clinic behind the shop. He’s an expert on bitty health, so uh..” She looks up at him and he sighs, adjusting his rectangular black glasses in front of his green eye lights.

“Yes, well, it is nice to meet you, miss. Come, let us go inside and see to the little ones,” Dr. Tahoma speaks very formally, but he smiles. You like him already.

“Okay, come on in.” You step inside and let the monsters enter.

The boys are in their tank, leaning on the edges and watching with interest.

“Hi boys!” Dumpling coos, beaming at them, “You been good for your new owner?”

“nah, you know us bettern’ that, auntie,” James rolled his eye lights, “but she’s a real peach, so we ain’t got no problems.”

“surprisingly” Ridley adds, “figures though. she even tastes like sugar.”

You blush and try to play it off, but Dr. Tahoma sees your bandaged hands and arms and jolts, “They’ve bitten you that much? Were you even following the safety rules?”

“whoa, doc, calm down.” James pulls himself up on the edge of the tank, “you oughta know she was doin’ everything she could. it was our fault, not hers.”

“With all due respect, small friend, it is my purpose here to assure you’re in a suitable environment, and a careless owner-” Dr. Tahoma is cut off by one of Dumpling’s tendrils wrapping around his mouth.

“Hush, Doctor,” she smiled at him, “Let them explain.”

The tall skeleton blushed a bright green and fought off the tendril, but kept quiet as Ridley took over, “bro and i have been doing our best to do the kill part of kill or be killed. i know you’re disappointed, auntie, but we didn’t want a repeat of the first go around.” He gestured around, “this room was a mess all month, not through any fault of hers. no, this little tidbit cleaned up every mess we made with a smile, no matter how many times we bit through her rubber gloves or threw a book into her face.”

“an’ that was plenty,” James confessed, fiddling with his fingers, “but she ain’t done anything wrong. in fact, i’d say both’a us prob’ly been eat’n better than ever and ain’t lackin’ in any department.”

Ridley nodded, and gestured to their tank, “we threw all the rocks out, but look at this place. heheh, it’s to die for~” He dove down and curled up in his castle, looking genuinely happy.

You felt your heart swell in gratitude for the boys defending you, and you couldn’t contain your affections as soon as the monsters went to inspect your home for safety. You picked James up very slowly and nuzzled him, “My hero~”

“doll, c’mon…stop it,” he giggled a bit, pushing at your skin, “y’re makin’ me look soft.”

“That’s because you are, my little sharky love,” you tease, kissing his head before setting him down in the water. He grabs your finger in his mouth, but barely holds on, just pressing his teeth gently on your fingers before letting go.

You decide you like those kinds of bites.

—

It takes Dumpling and Dr. Tahoma a good half hour before they are satisfied. You suspect this is mostly on the doctor’s part, since he seems to be the stickler of the two.

They bid you goodbye and Dumpling assures you, “You’re doing wonderful. I look forward to hearing how they turn out.”

Sighing as you shut the door, you run back to the tank and flop on the floor next to it. “Boys, we did it. We passed.”

James slips himself out of the tank and teleports onto your chest, laying flat out, “thank stars. after last night, i don’ ever wanna leave.”

“same,” adds Ridley, watching in amusement from above. “not every scary bitty gets a nice home and a sugarplum owner.”

“amen, bro,” James quips, nuzzling into your shirt. “so good ta not be fightin’ that soul link. felt so wrong. geeze….”

You smile a bit, “So you guys felt it, too?”

“yeah,” Ridley chuckles, deciding to join his brother in the cuddle fest and teleporting to you. “but once bitten, twice shy, so to speak.” He eyes your hand and smirks, “though you proved that wrong over and over again.”

You begin to stroke their backs slowly, earning soft sighs and soft red blushes. “It was worth every one of those bites to get here.”

They both grin and snuggle closer to you and each other. You don’t mind the water soaking your shirt, of course. You’ll cuddle your boys anytime.

—-

It’s nice to be able to feed the boys without those gloves now. Both of them will be cheeky on occasion and nibble or hold onto your fingers with their teeth, but they don’t hurt you anymore. They sometimes even teleport out of their tank, sitting on the plate and eating their meat chunks while talking with you.

James loves the Old West, clearly, and you make sure to tell him every story you know about outlaws and cowboys. You find it funny that a merbitty wants to ride a horse across a desert, but that’s just your James.

Ridley loves space, but he always talks about aliens before anything else in the subject. That makes you realize where he chose his name from, and you kiss him for being so clever.

They have destroyed a few things of yours, but you grab the individual carry tanks you got at the store and take them shopping with you for the replacements.

Both of them are excited to see the world outside, having never left the store or their former owner’s home except by car. They’ve never been outside before, and it’s clear they like what they see.

“never knew there were so many humans,” James murmurs as you place their tanks in the kids’ seat of your cart before heading into the Target.

“never knew there was so much world, more like it,” Ridley teased, but he was eager to look around, too. 

You just chuckle and head inside. You’re going to let them get anything they want, while still replacing your broken vase and a few books and picture frames (those got smashed when the other things missed you).

You’re pretty happy when you leave, having seen the boys interacting with other bitties who came with their owners, and having gotten everything you need (and a few extras for the boys). If this is life from now on, you’re more than happy. It’s exactly what you wanted; to love and be loved in return.

Knowing life is going to be fun now fills you with DETERMINATION.  
You start noticing something is different when Ridley stops sleeping inside the castle. You ask him why. “i can’t fit in there anymore, sweetie, simple as that.”

James is also getting bigger, and he can only really hide his upper body in his plant.

Worried, you take them both to the store and Dr. Tahoma to have them checked out. The skeletal physician chuckles softly when you explain why you came in. “I will check them over, miss, but your bitties are fine. You are simply doing a marvelous job of caring for them.”

Confused, you wait for him to explain as he’s checking Ridley’s head opening, “Bitties grow when they find a loving, caring, perfectly suited home. It is somewhat their own idea that being bigger would make things even better, which is why some bitties never grow despite being perfectly happy. Isn’t that right, Ridley?”

Your little man sighs and agrees, “it’s true. i kinda want to be bigger for, uh…reasons.” He smirks and winks at you, making you laugh.

James adds, “me too. it’s no fun not bein’ able ta hold onta you like you can to us. i ain’t ashamed; i love ya and i wanna hold ya like a real man.”

“You’re plenty real, James,” you coo back, kissing the top of his head and making him whine softly. “Big or small, you’re perfect.”

“See?” Dr. Tahoma finishes with Ridley, who teleports back to his travel tank (which he barely fits in now!), “That sort of exchange is precisely why they’re growing. You love them, clearly, and they love you. Affection and care are like growth pills for bitties when combined with their own wish to grow, whatever the reason. I suggest you talk to Dumpling on what you’d need for them now.”

You agree, and wait for him to check James over (fit as a fiddle, of course) before heading back to do just that.

—

Seeing what is going on, Dumpling helps you plan out a growth contingency. And the end game is an in ground pool. Wow.

You’d always wanted a pool anyway, living in the eternal summer of the south, but this just gave you a reason. Just a simple, oval pool would suffice, and your boys were more than happy to think about swimming in it. In the meantime, Dumpling sold you the biggest tank they had in stock, which had enough room to house them till they got to emancipation size.

The fact your boys could be their own monsters soon made you excited, and a little sad. What if they didn’t want to live with you after that? Oh well, at least they were excited for the future. You could live without them in the house all the time either way.

Saving the money was an issue, of course, but with only yourself and the boys to feed, only a little scrimping was needed. Even if the two of them ate more by the day, or so it seemed. 

One morning, you woke up to a weight on your chest. Looking down, you saw James and Ridley both laying there, arms wrapped around you and snoozing. They were easily the size of a third grader each by now, and you knew the appointment later that day would see them freed of their dependent status. You hugged them tight to you and kissed their skulls softly. “I love you so much,” you murmured.

They made sleepy sounds and James purred a bit, but they didn’t move. Dr. Tahoma had said that the bigger they got, the longer they could stay out of water. You were somewhat glad, too, since you were enjoying finding them in odd places around the house now that they wanted to explore. And waking up to their peaceful sleeping faces was definitely a plus.

—-

The pool was finished about a month after they outgrew their tank. You’d had them occupying your bathtub and a kiddie pool in the interim, and they definitely were happy to get out of those cramped surroundings. James whooped as he teleported into the water, darting around easily with his powerful tail. Ridley just hung back, watching for a bit as he held your hand, “thanks for this, cupcake. it’s a swell anniversary present.”

“What?” You blinked, looking at him in confusion.

“ah, you forgot?” He leaned in, smirking as you sat on he edge of the new big pool, “it’s been a whole year since we came home.” You squeaked as he kissed you softly, something that was becoming more frequent with the both of them since they’d gotten bigger. “happy anniversary~”

“no fair, bro!” James called, hurrying to the side of the pool. “you didn’t let me say it.” You get pulled into the water with him, and Ridley finally joins you both. You get kissed by James this time, but soon are returning the affections to each of them as you laugh and splash around. Yes, you suppose this is the perfect way to celebrate bringing them home.

Knowing your boys are happy, healthy, and love you very much fills you with DETERMINATION.


	4. Thriller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have your pool, your boys, and life is good. Or is it?

The boys were so much happier now that they could swim around properly again. And so were you.

You went swimming with them every day after you got home, floating around and discussing your day as the boys bantered. You had started noticing someone, one of your neighbors you supposed, looking over the fence every once in a while, though.

Oh well, the boys threw bones at the guy and all three of you giggled with mischief. You’d taken to just automatically changing into your swimsuit when you got home, spending your time outside with them, getting pulled in for surprise hugs and kisses, having pun wars.

Life was sweet, and perfect. You were happy, and….and you were in love. The months had been good to you, and through all their little gestures, even the way they would still very occasionally take your fingers in their mouths just to hold them there….you knew your boys were in love with you, and those same things had wormed their way into your heart. You loved them, too, more than you could say, and it felt like your soul sang when you had both of them beside you. It was meant to be.

You’d thought you’d stay in this bliss-like state forever, just the three of you.

And then one day, your boss was kind enough to let everyone off an hour early.

Walking into the house, you change quickly and run to the back door, “Boys I-”

You barely have time to register that your boys aren’t in the pool before you hear James yell your name and feel searing pain as something smacks you on the head.

—–

You wake up hours later, lying on the ground with some sticky blood adhering your cheek to the floor.

Getting up slowly, you hiss as you feel how badly your head aches, but you’re more worried about the boys.

“James? Ridley?” You call, wincing with each word. The volume of your panicked voice is painful. As is the silence that follows.

Whoever has them is long gone, and you have no idea where. Calling the police would just take more time right now, and you have to find them. You HAVE to. There isn’t a choice. You feel your chest squeeze painfully and jolt, as if something inside is pulling you.

You know that feeling. You felt it, much softer, the first time you laid eyes on your soulmates in the store that year or so ago. You know to follow that tug. It’s your soul reaching for theirs.

You run after your soul’s lead, all pain lost in a fire of DETERMINATION.  
With your soul tugging you every step, you rush to shoreline. Yes, a lot of people were staring at you in alarm, as anybody would when a swimsuit clad person with bare feet and blood on their face ran past. But you didn’t care. You needed to find your boys.

Down to the docks, and into the dark holds of a big yacht or something. You weren’t that knowledgable on what ships were what, but you knew your soul was burning to be here. No one had been around, and you’d been lucky enough to find a ladder still hanging from the decks to get down here.

In the hold were several cages, and in those cages were skeletons. About six of them, all child sized or bigger, of varying types. They were amazed to see you, but quiet just in case it was a trick. It made you furious, knowing these guys had been taken just like your boys, but their owners hadn’t been able to follow like you had.

Looking around for something to save them takes you a while since you’re trying to be stealthy. The boat begins to move out of port, but you’re sure you’ll be fine if you can just get out of here. Finally, you saw a work bench of some kind in a corner, and on it a knife. Yes! You rush over and take the knife, motioning for the biggies to come closer to the bars when you return to their part of the hold. They refused, and you whispered, “I’m here to save you! I’m looking for my boys, but I’m not going to leave you guys here!”

You hear Ridley whisper from farther back, “sugar?”

Joy floods your soul, “Ridley!”

The other biggies realize you’re here to help from that, and they come to the front of their cages. You snap off the weird black collars around their necks, and they all start to teleport away with big smiles. There’s a pulse in your soul for each of them, wishing them luck and hoping they can get home to the people who loved them.

Now, it’s just you and your precious boys in the dark back of the ship. James and Ridley are both wearing those blasted collars, but Ridley’s comes off just as easily as the others, “good job, sugar. let’s get out of here.”

You just manage to get James’ off when Ridley yells, “duck!”

James throws up a bone wall as you hear gunshots, but something burns across your cheek.

You can FEEL when Ridley rears up from the tank, the crackling of his enraged magic making you jump more than the blood dripping down your cheek, “you’re not going to live to regret that. i’ll eat you bones and all!” he snarled, sockets wide but completely empty and a manic grin on his skull.

“Yeah, right, bitty. You’re goin’ to market. You’re gold, she’s dirt,” The boys begin firing bones at the ruthless smugglers as James pulls you close and into the tank with him to provide some protection. However, you notice these bones are sharp on the ends, not like the warning shots they toss around at home.

The ship is pretty far out by now, and the angry bones slam through the hull. This makes the smugglers panic, and a few of them get hit by bones. James hisses as the water rises, “rid, we should go. this tub is goin’ down.”

“we’ll go, alright, but i’m comin’ back,” his voice was a dangerous whisper, but his eye light is back. Both of them ignore the floundering smugglers, dragging you with them before James teleports you all out of the boat and into the water outside.

It’s late at night, and the ocean is freezing. You’re in just a swimsuit, and shivering. Ridley notices, tearing his attention from the sinking ship, “james, you know what you’ve gotta do.”

“yeah,” James held you closer and you cuddled into his warmth.

“and so do i,” came the last word before Ridley chuckled darkly and slid beneath the surface. You saw his shadow dart off toward the ship, but then James cleared his throat.

Or more accurately, he coughed and began to spit out a good deal of water.

“A-a-are you o-okay j-j-j-James?” you worriedly ask, despite the shuddering of your voice.

“‘m fine, babe,” he replies “just um….ugh, i’m sorry i gotta do this without more preparation.” Then he kissed your head softly.

You’re about to ask what he means when you feel his mouth open and your head is shoved into it. Oh.

You’re too cold to do much more than yelp, but you notice he’s not biting, and oh stars the warmth inside him is heavenly. He’s carefully lifting you up so you aren’t scraped against his jaws as he swallows, your hearing getting muffled as you’re pressed into the tight tunnel of his throat. Still, at one point, you feel a pull in your chest and you realize his soul must be close. The tingling after the pull relaxes you some, despite being worried about what’s happening.

Once you hit bottom, you curl in on yourself both for warmth and comfort. Everything is glowing slightly red, and you can hear the sea around you. From above, you hear him sigh in a dreamy way, and then you feel him dive. There is nothing but the glow of his belly around you now. You’re completely at his mercy, and while you’re still frightened from everything that happened tonight, the softness of the walls around you and the gentle rush of water lulls you into a deep sleep.

Out of everything tonight, you have shown you have great DETERMINATION.  
You wake up because of sunlight. Or you think it’s sunlight, as you can’t be sure. It’s just bright and red. 

This makes you remember the night before and the fact you’re still alive is a pleasant surprise. However, you aren’t…actually surprised. Some part of you trusted James enough that it wasn’t frightened, but the adrenaline of everything else yesterday had drowned it out.

Still, you begin to shift and ask, “James?”

He jolts a bit, and the walls clench in on you for a moment before relaxing, “h-hey, babe. eheh, g’morning?”

“Can I come out?” it feels weird to ask, but you suppose you should give it a try.

“oh, yeah! we’re back on the beach at home already. jus’ ummmm…gimme a sec. and sorry in advance for the gross noises.” You can see the shadow of his hand above you. You poke it on a whim.

It takes a minute or two of the membrane above you going from opaque to clear and back before James gets enough courage to actually spit you out. The beach sand is warmer than he was inside, and it’s so nice to have more space to stretch around in.

Once you’re sufficiently comfortable with yourself again, you turn back to James, who is watching you sheepishly from the waterline. “So where’s Ridley?”

“here,” comes a soft groan, and you look further into the water. Ridley’s barely surfaced, pinned to the soft sand by a severely swollen stomach. He has shreds of bloodstained cloth stuck to the needles of his teeth and wedged in between as well.

You remember his threat to the smugglers and feel ice drop into your blood. He did it. But he looks so weak and….sad, just laying in the sand, hiccuping pitifully.

It takes a bit of courage to slide down further into the water and begin helping him get the fabric scraps out of his teeth. But you do it, and the fuzzy orb of his eye light watches you with nervous twitches.

“b-babe, um…” you hear the tears in James’ voice before you look at him. He’s crying, and you hear his ribs rattling. “so…um…a-are you gonna leave us?”

“What?” you motion for James to scoot over closer and he does, grabbing onto your waist and hiding his face in your shoulder.

“w-we killed, babe. i-it’s our fault those guys’re dead and…” he shivered slightly.

Ridley’s voice is slightly out of breath (funny since he doesn’t need to breathe) but you realize it’s because he’s tearing up as well. You know well enough how much heartache it takes for your little Fisher to cry. “i….i told you i’d eat a human, one day. but….but i don’t want to lose you.”

He holds tight to the hand you have resting on his skull, and you feel the pain of their fear in your own soul. As disturbing as it is knowing what Ridley did, what…what James could have done to you, you couldn’t leave them. Not ever.

So instead of a verbal answer, you kiss them both, James on top of his skull and Ridley on the forehead. They don’t seem to get it, so you do respond eventually, “I promised you forever when you could fit in my hands. I don’t break my promises. I love you both. You saved my life, after all.”

James nuzzles into you more, and Ridley just grips your hand as tight as he can without hurting you. Eventually, James recovers enough to teleport the three of you home to begin the long process of healing from that traumatic event.


	5. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion

Carrying a tray of steak and lemonade, you sat down by the edge of the pool, danging you feet in the water.

James swam up from the deeper end to greet you, while Ridley was laying in the shallowest spot, half out of the water and sunning to help himself with his…eh, continuing issue.

“Here you go, James,” You slide the steak plate over to him, sighing as you give Ridley a teasing brow raise, “I’m guessing you’re still working on it?”

“well, it’s not like i’m delaying on purpose. this is hard work,” he smirks, though you can tell he’s ready to be back to normal eating. His stomach is still full and opaque, though not nearly as distended as it was….before. Instead of a large beach ball, there’s just an off-blue volleyball poking out from under his ribs.

You chuckle softly, preferring to laugh at the uncomfortable feeling in your throat, at the memory of WHY he was like that.

“aww, don’t worry, babe. you humans might be delicious, but i won’t be biting off more than i can chew again…well, unless someone else decides to hurt you,” Ridley shrugs, and you give an involuntary shiver before rolling your eyes and smiling at him. He did it to protect you. Those men were evil and tried to murder you, you knew that, but…it was still so hard for you to picture Ridley as anything other than your quirky, tender, cuddle fish. Yeah he had always had a dark humor, but you’d never dreamed he would actually eat a human.

“yeah, you already bit off like, what, three guys’ heads?” James quipped back, having finished his own meal and come up to prod at his brother.

“Three?!” You whip your head around fast enough to make your joints pop. “ow…okay, but I thought it was just one?” He’d murdered MULTIPLE PEOPLE?!

“james!” Ridley angrily squawked at his brother, who was now covering his mouth and apologizing repeatedly.

“sorry! i’m so sorry, bro, it just slipped!”

“Boys!” You interject, making them quiet for a moment. “Just…just explain?”

Eye light small and shaky, Ridley speaks, “i was just so angry. they tried to kill you, babe. i couldn’t just let them live. and once i got the first one it was no stopping me. none of them lived long enough to hurt, if that helps. and he was right, i only got three of them. the sea took care of the rest.”

You study his expression. No, he’s not sorry for what he did, but he doesn’t want you to hate him for it. He’s terrified again, just like when he first popped up before James let you out on shore.

“As…as much as I wish you hadn’t had to do that…” you slide over to them and take a deep breath, sighing with a smile as you gently brush Ridley’s cheek, “I won’t hate you for it. Just try not to do it again, okay?”

He leans into your touch, the tension leaving his posture almost instantly. Even after all that, he was still yours, and honestly you were his just as much. James smirked a bit, but backed off. He knew he’d get his turn to be loved on later, when you and Ridley had re-established yourselves again. 

Being this close, you couldn’t help but look him over again, and try not to laugh at that funny little lump in his otherwise streamlined body. Your hand goes there, but, you stop for a moment. Then his skull is leaning against your shoulder, letting you feel the heat from his magic blush as he mutters, “i don’t mind you touching, if you want to.”

Your sweetheart was still modest enough not to want to look you in the eye, making your heart squeeze softly. But you took him up on the offer, running your hand over the smooth magic surface of his stomach. The gel was usually cool to the touch, or at least it had been when they were small, but right now it was warm and you could feel it churning beneath your touch. He wasn’t kidding when he’d said it was hard work. “It’s not just you being full that makes you not want to eat, is it, Rid?”

He shakes his head and you keep rubbing softly, trying to help as best you can. “You should’ve told me it was making you sick. I’d have done this sooner.” After a few minutes, he begins to purr softly, clinging tighter to you and beginning to nuzzle.

“sorry…i’ll be better. and thanks, sugar,” he whispered before returning to purring, all the tension in his spine and shoulders sliding away. You smiled, more genuinely this time. This was what you wanted, when you ran after them that day. This was so much closer to normal for the three of you, and knowing that Ridley still loved you, still felt comforted by you even after all that had happened…

It filled you with DETERMINATION.

It’s a few weeks later and really, most of the evidence of your grand escapade is gone. Your cheek has healed to be merely a memory (thanks to James’ magic) and the boys are back to their usual antics. You’ve even pawned off the miscellaneous items that Ridley spit out, gaining a little extra cash to repair the fence where the smugglers broke in.

Speaking of him, the more menacing of your sweethearts is watching you as you relax at the water’s edge. Before you realize it, you’re yanked into the pool and pulled up against him, back to his sternum as he nuzzles you tenderly. “you know, sugar, you spent the whole night with james the other day. think today can be my turn?”

You know what he’s asking, but you don’t mind, “Sure thing, Ridley,” you smile, “I’d love to.”


End file.
